– The year-end activity, held at Blumar’s facilities, brought together elderly adults from San Vicente Norte, Sur and Partal sectors, concluding community work that exceeded 500 health services in 2025 alone.
As a closing event for community work developed throughout the year, Blumar held a year-end gathering with elderly adults from the San Vicente Norte, Sur and Partal sectors, an event that this year was organized differently, with the company opening its facilities’ doors.
The activity had a strong holiday character and was specially dedicated to elderly adults in the sector, who participated in a meeting day that included community bingo, prize distribution, the appearance of ‘Viejo Pascuero’ and speeches by representatives from the company, municipality and neighborhood organizations. This gathering allowed for sharing and recognizing neighbors in a different space, and marked the annual closure of community work developed, aimed at responding to needs raised by the community itself.
In this context, the activity coincided with the closing of a project developed together with the Speech-Language Pathology program at San Sebastián University (USS), an alliance that completes three years of continuous work with San Vicente communities. During this period, the project has provided 1,022 health services, through field audiological operations, digital literacy workshops and cognitive stimulation activities, developed by professionals and students in coordination with neighborhood associations and the municipality, including six hearing screening operations conducted during 2025.
In detail, during 2023 approximately 200 services were provided, a figure that increased to 304 in 2024 and reached 518 in 2025, reflecting the sustained growth of the program and the consolidation of collaborative work with the community.
From the community, the initiative was valued for its direct impact and for responding to needs raised by neighbors themselves. Yolanda Contreras, president of the San Vicente Sur Neighborhood Association, emphasized that “we are a sector with a majority of elderly adults and this work has been the result of months of coordination and meetings, which allowed us to respond to real needs of our neighbors”.
Likewise, Patricia Cea, community manager of the Talcahuano Municipality, highlighted that these types of instances “allow us to recognize elderly adults and provide them with spaces for gathering and joy, strengthening collaborative work between the company, university and community”.
“We wanted to create a space of closeness and recognition for the elderly adults of San Vicente and Partal, who are the builders of these communities and also of the productive history of the area,” said Blumar’s Fishing Operations Manager, José Ocares.
Meanwhile, the company’s Sustainability Sub-manager, Felipe Hormazábal, noted that this year-end closing allowed for highlighting the value of sustained work with the territory. “This year-end closing allows us to conclude with one thousand health services, which reflects the sustained work we have been developing with our neighbors”.
From the academic side, USS Speech-Language Pathology Clinical Fields coordinator, Jocelyn Linco, also highlighted the educational contribution of the project. “It was a year-long effort that involved professionals, students, neighborhood associations and entire families who came to access different services. These instances also generate meaningful learning for our students, strengthening their connection with territorial reality,” she noted.
